Norristown man charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of children

NORRISTOWN — A Norristown man is free on $99,000 cash bail after he was arrested late Friday and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of children.

Sean Rahatt, 41, of the 1400 block of Markley Street, reportedly assaulted girls as young as five years old over a 12-year period. He is charged with more than 100 counts of sex crimes that were allegedly committed in Norristown, Lansdale and Collegeville.

According to an affidavit, on April 1, Norristown police received a complaint regarding a sexual assault of a juvenile female who claimed to be under the age of 13 when a number of assaults occurred.

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Between 1998 and 2005, the girl told police the assaults occurred in Norristown, Collegeville and Lansdale and that Rahatt was the perpetrator.

At age five, the victim told police she visited Rahatt at his home on Jackson Street in Norristown, where he allegedly exposed himself and instructed her to perform oral sex on him. He then allegedly performed oral sex on her, after she tried to stop the act.

A year later, the victim reportedly found herself living with Rahatt, where the sexual assaults became more frequent. When she was nine years old, she told police they occurred at Rahatt’s Markley Street home.

It was not until this month that the victim contacted Rahatt over the phone and confronted him about the incidents. He reportedly told the girl that he had been abused as a child and that “his affections were reenacting his past,” according to the affidavit.

“During the conversation, Sean Rahatt referred to what was done between them occurred in Roman families and was done to keep the power in the family,” as read from the affidavit.

“Sean Rahatt stated that there was a whole world out there (which) has made this OK, but if it makes you feel like you feel now, then it is obviously not.”

On April 16, Ambler Police Department received a report of suspected child abuse in reference to an indecent assault on a young female, who was reportedly under age 12 at the time.

The second victim reportedly told police Rahatt sexually assaulted her in his Markley Street home in the summer of 2010.

Rahatt was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Margaret Hunsicker over the weekend. He is charged with sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault, aggravated indecent assault of a child, indecent exposure, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of minors.

He is free on bail with the condition of having no contact with his victims. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday before Hunsicker.